Sunroof apparatus

ABSTRACT

A sunroof apparatus including a front panel and a rear panel closing a roof opening, having a slider coupling mechanism interlocking between a front slider actuating the front panel and a rear slider actuating the rear panel while achieving a simplified structure and compacted size thereof with its number of parts reduced. The coupling arm is swingably pivotally supported by the rear slider, and the coupling arm is provided with a stopper for regulating the back-and-forth movement of the rear slider by fitting to a locking hole formed in the guide rail, and the front slider is provided with a coupling pin and the coupling arm is provided with a coupling cam groove, and the front slider is moved backward so that the coupling pin and the coupling cam groove are engaged with each other to thereby swing the coupling arm so that the stopper is disengaged from the locking hole and the rear slider being interlocked with the front slider is rendered to be moved back and forth.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 ofInternational Application No. PCT/IB2011/002951, filed Dec. 6, 2011,designating the United States and claims the benefit of foreign priorityfrom Japanese Patent Application Number 2010-271437, filed Dec. 6, 2010,the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sunroof apparatus provided in a roofof a vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, there has been a sunroof apparatus that includes a frontpanel retractably opening/closing a front portion of a roof openingformed in a roof of a vehicle, a rear panel retractably opening/closinga rear portion of the roof opening, a front slider actuating the frontpanel by moving back and forth, a rear slider actuating the rear panelby moving back and forth, and a guide rail guiding the front slider andthe rear slider movably in a back-and-forth direction (see PatentLiterature 1).

In this sunroof apparatus, it is constructed that, by moving the frontslider backward, a rear portion of the front panel is tilted up by thefront portion of the roof opening, and the front panel is then movedbackward in the tilted-up state. Then, the front slider is broughtcloser to the rear slider so as to be coupled to the rear slider, andthereafter the rear slider being interlocked with the front slider ismoved back and forth. Thus, it becomes possible to actuate the frontpanel and rear panel by a single drive motor.

A slider coupling mechanism interlocking between the front slider andthe rear slider of the sunroof apparatus is constructed as follows.

In the rear portion of the front slider, a coupling piece including acoupling cam groove is provided in a rearward protruded state, and therear portion of the coupling cam groove is opened backward and the frontportion thereof is formed to be forward inclined in a downward slopestate.

In the front portion of the rear slider, an extended portion is providedin a forward protruded state and a coupling arm is provided in a forwardprotruded state.

The rear portion of the coupling arm is pivotally supported so that thefrontward side thereof is rendered to be vertically swingable, and acoupling pin is provided in the front end side of the coupling arm in alaterally penetrating state. Further, a long-sized hole is formed in thefront end side of the extended portion for regulating a vertical swingrange of the coupling arm so that the coupling pin is inserted throughthe long-sized hole. And the coupling arm is biased upward by a spring.

An arm locking member fixed to the guide rail is located in thefrontward side of the coupling arm and a locking groove with thecoupling pin inserted thereto is formed in the side surface of the armlocking member. The locking groove is formed of a verticallylongitudinal groove portion, a back-and-forth oriented transverse grooveportion positioned rearward and below the longitudinal groove portion,and a curved groove portion connecting between the longitudinal grooveportion and the transverse groove portion.

In the slider coupling mechanism, in a state (a coupling release state)that the coupling piece of the front slider is positioned in thefrontward side of the coupling pin, the coupling pin is positioned at atop edge of the long-sized hole and the coupling pin is fitted to thelongitudinal groove portion of the locking groove. Since coupling pin isfitted to the longitudinal groove portion of the locking groove, theback-and-forth movement of the rear slider is regulated.

From this state, when the front slider is moved backward and thecoupling cam groove is fitted to the coupling pin, the coupling pin isguided along the coupling cam groove so as to be pulled down against thebiasing force of the spring and the coupling pin is moved toward thelower end side of the long-sized hole of the extended portion and ismoved to the front end side of the transverse groove portion of thelocking groove.

When the coupling pin is fitted to the front portion of the coupling camgroove, the front slider and the rear slider are brought in a coupledstate so that the rear slider is interlocked with the front slider so asto be movable back and forth. Further, when the coupling pin is movedtoward the front end side of the transverse groove portion of thelocking groove formed in the arm locking member, the regulation of theback-and-forth movement of the rear slider is released so that the rearslider is rendered to be movable back and forth.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A    2009-113680

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The slider coupling mechanism interlocking between the front slider andthe rear slider in the conventional sunroof apparatus includes thecoupling piece provided in the front slider and including the couplingcam groove, the coupling arm vertically swingably provided in the rearslider, the extended portion including the long-sized hole forregulating the vertical swing range of the coupling arm, the couplingpin provided in the coupling arm, the spring biasing the coupling armupward, and the arm locking member including the locking groove to whichthe coupling pin is inserted. Therefore, the slider coupling mechanismhas a problem that the number of parts is large with a complicatedstructure and a large size of the mechanism.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention has beenmade having an object to provide a sunroof apparatus including a slidercoupling mechanism interlocking between a front slider and a rear sliderwhile achieving a simplified structure and compacted size thereof withits number of parts reduced.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the technical problems mentioned above, the technicalmeans made by the present invention provides a sunroof apparatusincluding a front panel retractably opening/closing a front portion of aroof opening formed in a roof of a vehicle and a rear panel retractablyopening/closing a rear portion of the roof opening, the sunroofapparatus comprising:

a front slider actuating the front panel by moving back and forth; arear slider actuating the rear panel by moving back and forth; and aguide rail guiding the front slider and the rear slider in a manner ofbeing movable back and forth, wherein

the front slider is moved backward so as to be coupled to the rearslider, whereby the rear slider being interlocked with the front slideris rendered to be moved back and forth, wherein

an coupling arm is swingably pivotally supported in a front portion ofthe rear slider, and the coupling arm is provided with a stopper forregulating the back-and-forth movement of the rear slider by fitting toa locking hole formed in the guide rail, wherein

one of the front slider and the coupling arm is provided with a couplingpin and the other thereof is provided with a coupling cam grooveinterlocking between the front slider and the coupling arm by engagingwith the coupling pin, and wherein

the front slider is moved backward so that the coupling pin and thecoupling cam groove are engaged with each other to thereby swing thecoupling arm so that the stopper is disengaged from the locking hole andthe rear slider being interlocked with the front slider is rendered tobe moved back and forth.

In this construction, it is preferable that the coupling arm ispivotally supported by the rear slider in a manner of being verticallyswingable, and the locking hole is formed in a bottom wall of the guiderail, and the coupling arm is swung upward upon engagement of thecoupling pin with the coupling cam groove so that the stopper isdisengaged from the locking hole, and when the rear slider is moved backand forth in the rearward than the locking hole upon disengagement ofthe stopper from the locking hole, the stopper is rendered to slide onthe bottom wall of the guide rail.

Preferably, the front slider is provided with the coupling pin, and thecoupling arm is provided with the coupling cam groove. Further, a springis preferably provided for biasing the stopper in a direction of beingfitted to the locking hole.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, since the slider coupling mechanisminterlocking between the front slider and the rear slider includes acoupling arm provided in the rear slider, a coupling pin provided in oneof the front slider and the coupling arm and a coupling cam grooveprovided in the other thereof, a stopper provided in the coupling arm,and a locking hole formed in the guide rail, the slider couplingmechanism can be simplified in structure and compacted in size whilereducing the number of parts thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle.

FIG. 2 (a) is a side view of a sunroof apparatus in a state that a frontpanel and a rear panel are in a fully closed state of closing a roofopening, and FIG. 2 (b) is a side view of the sunroof apparatus in astate that the front panel is fully tilted up.

FIG. 3 (a) is a side view of the sunroof apparatus in a state that thefront panel is moved backward in a fully tilted up state so that a frontslider is coupled to a rear slider, FIG. 3 (b) is a side view of thesunroof apparatus in a state that the rear panel is lowered (lifteddown) relative to the position shown in FIG. 3 (a) and moved toward alift-down completion state, and FIG. 3 (c) is a side view of the sunroofapparatus in a state that the rear panel is lowered (lifted down)relative to the position shown in FIG. 3 (b) and moved into thelift-down completion state.

FIG. 4 (a) is a side view of the sunroof apparatus in a state that thefront panel is fully closed, and FIG. 4 (b) is a side view of thesunroof apparatus in a state that the rear panel is fully closed.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a left side front panelactuator.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a left side rear panelactuator.

FIG. 7 (a) is an exploded perspective view of a back slider of a leftside front slider, and FIG. 7 (b) is an exploded perspective view of aleft side rear slider.

FIG. 8 (a) is a side view of a front portion of the front panel actuatorin a fully closed state, and FIG. 8 (b) is a side view from a rearportion of a front lifter to a front portion of a rear lifter in a fullyclosed state.

FIG. 9 (a) is a side view of a front portion of the front panel actuatorin a fully tilted-up state, and FIG. 9 (b) is a side view from the rearportion of the front lifter to the front portion of the rear lifter in afully tilted-up state.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing an operation of a front timing member.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a descending operation of the rearlifter.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a coupling operation between the frontslider and the rear slider.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing an operation of the rear timing member.

FIG. 14 (a) is a sectional view of a guide rail, and FIG. 14 (b) is asectional view across a line A-A in FIG. 4.

FIG. 15 (a) is a sectional view across a line B-B in FIG. 4, and FIG. 15(b) is a sectional view across a line C-C in FIG. 4.

FIG. 16 (a) is a sectional view across a line D-D in FIG. 4, and FIG. 16(b) is a sectional view across a line E-E in FIG. 4.

FIG. 17 (a) is a sectional view across a line F-F in FIG. 4, and FIG. 17(b) is a sectional view across a line G-G in FIG. 1, FIG. 17 (c) is asectional view across a line H-H in FIG. 13, and FIG. 17 (d) is asectional view across a line J-J in FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention is described below referring tothe drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a vehicle 1 provided with a sunroofapparatus 2, wherein a rectangular roof opening 4 is formed in a roof 3of the vehicle 1.

In the following description, back-and-forth, lateral (right and left)and vertical (up and down) directions are conforming to directions asviewed from a driver seated in a driver's seat. Also, a laterally inwarddirection is referred to a direction from an edge in a lateral directionof the vehicle 1 toward a central portion in the lateral direction, anda laterally outward direction is referred to a direction from thecentral portion in the lateral direction of the vehicle 1 toward theedge in the lateral direction. Therefore, regarding a member provided ina side portion in the lateral direction of the vehicle 1, an inwarddirection in the lateral direction is referred to a direction toward acentral side in the lateral direction of the vehicle 1 and an outwarddirection in the lateral direction is referred to a direction toward anopposite side to the central side in the lateral direction of thevehicle 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the sunroof apparatus 2 includes a front panel6 retractably opens and closes a front portion of the roof opening 4, arear panel 7 retractably opens and closes a rear portion of the roofopening 4, a frame 8 fixedly attached to a lower surface side of theroof 3, a front panel actuator 9 actuating an operation of opening andclosing the front panel 6, a rear panel actuator 10 actuating anoperation of opening and closing the rear panel 7, a drive motor 11driving these panel actuators 9 and 10, and a drive cable 12transferring power of the drive motor 11 to the back-and-forth panelactuators 9 and 10.

This sunroof apparatus 2 is a type of driving the front panel actuator 9(actuating the front panel 6) and the rear panel actuator 10 (actuatingthe rear panel 7) by a single drive motor 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the frame 8 includes a pair of right and left guiderails 13 extending in a back-and-forth direction, a front frame member14 coupling between the front end sides of the right and left guiderails 13, and a rear frame member 15 coupling between the back-and-forthintermediate portions of the right and left guide rails 13 so that aframe opening 16 is defined between the front and rear frame members 14and 15.

The front portions of the right and left guide rails 13 are locatedbelow the right and left side edges of the roof opening 4, and the frontframe member 14 is located below the front edge portion of the roofopening 4, and the rear frame member 15 is located below the rear edgeportion of the roof opening 4. Therefore, the frame opening 16 islocated in a position corresponding to a position below the roof opening4 so that the frame opening 16 is freely opened and closed by a sunshade(not shown).

The drive motor 11 is attached to the front frame member 14, and a drivegear 17 rotationally driven by the drive motor 11 is provided in thevicinity of the drive motor 11, wherein the drive cable 12 is engagedwith the drive gear 17 so that the drive cable 12 is configured to bepushed and pulled in the longitudinal direction by rotationally drivingthe drive gear 17 by the drive motor 11.

A pair of right and left front panel actuators 9 and a pair of right andleft rear panel actuators 10 are respectively provided, and the pairedfront panel actuators 9 are located below the right and left side edgesof the front panel 6 (i.e., provided between the front panel 6 and theright and left guide rails 13), and the paired rear panel actuators 10are located below the right and left side edges of the rear panel 7(i.e., provided between the rear panel 7 and the right and left guiderails 13).

Also, a pair of drive cables 12 is provided corresponding to therespective front and rear panel actuators 9 and 10.

Each of the guide rails 13 is formed with an extrusion molding materialto have a mild curved shape protruding upward, and as shown in FIG. 14(a), it includes a panel guide portion 18, a sunshade guide portion 19provided inwardly in the lateral direction of the panel guide portion18, and a tub portion 21 provided outwardly in the lateral direction ofthe panel guide portion 18.

In the panel guide portion 18, there are formed a pair of laterallyinward and outward slide guide grooves 23 with an upper surface of abottom wall 22 of the guide rail 13 as a sliding surface thereof, atiming guide groove 24 located above the inward slide guide groove 23, acable guide groove 25 located outwardly in the lateral direction of theoutward slide guide groove 23, an attachment groove 26 located above thetiming guide groove 24, and a regulation wall 27 laterally opposite tothe timing guide groove 24, along the longitudinal direction of theguide rail 13.

The inward slide guide groove 23 is formed in a U-character shape thatopens outwardly in the lateral direction, and the outward slide guidegroove 23 is formed in a U-character shape that opens inwardly in thelateral direction, and these slide guide grooves 23 are laterallyopposed to each other. In addition, an intermediate space between thelaterally inward and outward slide guide grooves 23 in the panel guideportion 18 is opened upwardly.

Each of the timing guide groove 24 and the attachment groove 26 isformed in a U-character shape that opens outwardly in the lateraldirection.

The cable guide groove 25 is communicated with the outward slide guidegroove 23 and the drive cable 12 is inserted thereto from the front.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 8, the front panel actuator 9 includes afront lifter 28, a timing arm 29 and a front slider 30.

The front lifter 28 is formed to have a length generally from the frontedge portion of the front panel 6 to the rear portion thereof and it islocated between the inward and outward slide guide grooves 23 of thepanel guide portion 18 in a manner of being movable back and forth. Asshown in FIG. 15, the front lifter 28 is attached to a side edge side inthe lateral direction of the front panel 6 through an attachment bracket31.

A front bracket 32 is pivotally coupled with the front end side of thefront lifter 28 rotatably about a lateral axis through a pivotal shaft33, and a slide shoe 34 longitudinally and slidably fitted to each ofthe inward and outward slide guide grooves 23 is attached to the frontbracket 32.

Moreover, in the front side of the front lifter 28, there are formed atilt guide groove 36 (cam groove) and a pin insertion groove 37 locatedin the front side of the tilt guide groove 36 in a manner of beinglaterally penetrating therethrough.

The tilt guide groove 36 is formed to be inclined to have a downwardslope in a backward direction.

The pin insertion groove 37 is formed to have a rearward inclined groove38 formed in a rearward inclined shape from an intermediate portion toan upper portion thereof and a downward groove 39 formed of the lowerportion downwardly.

Further, a shutting cam 40 is attached to be fixed to the rear end sideof the front lifter 28, and a pair of shutting cam grooves 41 is formedin the both right and left side surfaces of the shutting cam 40.

Each of the shutting cam grooves 41 is closed at the front edge thereofand the front portion thereof is in a straight line shape along thelongitudinal direction of the guide rail 13 while the rear portionthereof is formed in an inclined shape having a downward slopebackwardly, and the rear edge thereof is opened downwardly in a tiltedbackward direction.

The timing arm 29 is located inwardly in the lateral direction in thefront side of the front lifter 28. In a front portion side of the timingarm 29, a shaft insertion hole 42 of a long elongated hole shape isformed to penetrate in the lateral direction along the longitudinaldirection of the guide rail 13 so that the pivot shaft 33 is insertedthrough the shaft insertion hole 42 for pivotally coupling the front endside of the front lifter 28 with the front bracket 32.

In the upper portion of the rear portion of the timing arm 29, there isprovided a pin 43 inserted to the pin insertion groove 37 of the frontlifter 28 in a manner of being movable in the longitudinal direction.

Further, in the lower portion of the rear portion of the timing arm 29,there is provided an engagement protrusion 44 inwardly protruded in thelateral direction, and the engagement protrusion 44 is provided with afront timing member 45 inwardly protruded in the lateral direction.

In the position of closing the front portion of the roof opening 4 bythe front panel 6, a front locking member 46 is located for restrictinga back-and-forth movement of the front lifter 28 by locking the fronttiming member 43 inwardly in the lateral direction of the timing arm 29.As shown in FIG. 10, the front locking member 46 is provided to beextending from the attachment groove 26 of the guide rail 13 to thetiming guide groove 24 so that the upper side is fitted to theattachment groove 26 so as to be fixed tit the guide rail 13.

In the front locking member 46, there is formed an locking groove 47 ina shape of opening downward, i.e., toward the timing guide groove 24,and the front timing member 45 is allowed to be detachably fitted to thelocking groove 47 from the lower side.

The front slider 30 is adapted to be back-and-forth movably(longitudinally movably) supported by the panel guide member 18 of theguide rail 13 so that it is moved back and forth to thereby drive thefront panel actuator 9 so as to open and close the front panel 6 (i.e.,to move the front panel 6 up and down and back and forth).

The front slider 30 includes mainly a forward slider 48, a backwardslider 49 located rearward the forward slider 48, a joint piece 50extending frontward from the backward slider 49, and a joint shoe 51 forjointing the joint piece 50 and the forward slider 48.

The forward slider 48 is located in the front downward side of the frontlifter 28 and includes a bottom wall 52 and a pair of side walls 53rising up from the both inward and outward sides in the lateraldirection of the bottom wall 52.

In the lower edge of the inward side wall 53 of the frontward of theforward slider 48, there is provided a slide shoe 54 longitudinallyslidably fitted to the inward slide guide groove 23, and the slide shoe54 is slid within the slide guide groove 23 so that the forward slider48 is made movable back and forth.

Also, in the lower edge of the outward side wall 53 of the forwardslider 48, there is provided a cable fixture 55 movable in thelongitudinal direction along the outward slide guide groove 23 and thecable guide groove 25, wherein the drive cable 12 is fixed to the cablefixture 55. Therefore, it is configured that the front slider 30 ismoved back and forth by pushing and pulling the drive cable 12 in thelongitudinal direction.

In the front portion of the inward side wall 53 of the forward slider48, there is provided an engagement groove 56 engageable with theengagement protrusion 44 of the timing arm 29.

The rear portion of the forward slider 48 is provided with a pair ofright and left extending pieces 57 extending upward from the inward andoutward side walls 53 in a manner of sandwiching the front lifter 28,and as shown in FIG. 15, in the upper portion of the extending pieces57, there is provided a tilt pin 58 (front forward supporting portion)that penetrates the right and left extending pieces 57 and is insertedthrough the tilt guide groove 36 of the front lifter 28.

A connecting piece 59 is provided on the rear end side of the forwardslider 48.

The backward slider 49 includes a bottom wall 61 and a pair of sidewalls 62 rising up from both of inward and outward sides in the lateraldirection of the bottom wall 61, wherein the joint piece 50 is extendedfrontward from the inward side wall 62 of the backward slider 49.

Under the lower edge of the inward and outward side walls 62 of thebackward slider 49, there is provided a slide shoe 63 that islongitudinally slidably fitted to the inward and outward slide guidegrooves 23 so that the backward slider 49 is allowed to be movable backand forth by sliding the slide shoe 63 within the slide guide grooves23.

As shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 15 (b), the front upper edges of the inwardand outward side walls 62 of the backward slider 49 are provided withattachment pieces 64 extended toward the opposing sides and engagementshoes 65 are attached to the respective attachment pieces 64 and theengagement shoes 65 are located on both right and left sides of theshutting cam 40, and on the opposing sides of the engagement shoes,there are provided engagement portions 66 (front backward supportingportion) inserted to the shutting cam grooves 41 of the shutting cam 40.

In a fully closed state of closing the roof opening 4 by the front panel6 and the rear panel 7, the rear end side of the backward slider 49 ispositioned below a butt-joint between the front panel 6 and the rearpanel 7, and as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 16 (a), the rear upper edges ofthe inward and outward side walls 62 of the backward slider 49 areprovided with a pair of attachment pieces 67 extended toward theopposing side, and a pair of engagement shoes 68 is attached to therespective attachment pieces 67, and engagement portions 69 (rearforward supporting portions) are provided on the opposing sides of thepaired engagement shoes 68.

The front and rear engagement portions 66 and 69 of the backward slider49 are provided in the level in height.

Further, the rear edge of the inward side wall 62 of the backward slider49 is provided with a coupling piece 70 extending backward, and thecoupling piece 70 is provided with a coupling pin 71 (coupled portion)protruding outwardly in the lateral direction.

As shown in FIG. 15 (a), the joint shoe 51 is longitudinally slidablyfitted to the inward slide guide groove 23 and the front portion thereofis coupled to the connecting piece 59 of the rear end side portion ofthe forward slider 48 and the rear portion thereof is coupled to thefront portion of the joint piece 50.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the rear panel actuator 10 includes mainly arear lifter 72, a timing link 73, a rear slider 74, a coupling arm 75and the rear part of the front slider 30 (rear slider 49).

The rear lifter 72 is formed to have a length extending generally fromthe front edge to the generally rear edge of the rear panel 7, and asshown in FIG. 16 (b), the rear lifter 72 is located in a position abovea space between the inward and outward slide guide grooves 23 of thepanel guide portion 18 and it is attached to the side edge in thelateral direction of the rear panel 7 through an attachment bracket 76.

In the both inward and outward side surfaces in the lateral direction ofthe rear lifter 72, as shown in FIG. 4, one lift guide groove 77 (camgroove) is formed in the front side and a pair of front and rear liftguide grooves 78 and 79 (cam grooves) are formed in the rear side.

These lift guide grooves 77, 78 and 79 are formed to be inclined to havean upward slope in a backward direction.

The lift guide groove 77 in the front portion of the rear lifter 72 isreferred to as a front lift guide groove and the forward rear lift guidegroove 78 in the rear portion of the rear lifter 72 is referred to as aforward rear lift guide groove and the rear side lift guide groove 79 isreferred to as a rear side rear lift guide groove.

Further, both in the laterally inward and outward side surfaces of therear lifter 72, there are formed sliding grooves 80 extending from thefront edge of the rear lifter 72 to the front edge of the forward rearlift guide groove 78 along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail13.

The front edge of the sliding groove 80 is in an opened state frontward,and the intermediate portion thereof is contiguous to the front edge ofthe front lift guide groove 77, and the rear edge thereof is contiguousto the front edge of the forward rear lift guide groove 78.

Further, as shown in FIG. 16 (a), each of the engagement portions 69 ofthe engagement shoes 68 provided in the rear portion of the backwardslider 49 of the front slider 30 is inserted to the sliding grooves 80in a manner of being movable back-and-forth.

The timing link 73 is located in the rear side of the rear lifter 72 andthe front end side thereof is pivotally coupled to the rear end side ofthe rear lifter 72 through a pivot 81 in a manner of being rotatableabout the lateral axis.

In the rear end side of the timing link 73, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 17(d), rollers 83 located on both laterally inward and outward sides aresupported via a supporting member 82 in a manner of being rotatableabout the lateral axis. The inward roller 83 is fitted to the timingguide groove 24 in a manner of being longitudinally movable, and theoutward roller 83 is slidably abutted to a regulation wall 27 providedin the panel guide portion 18 of the guide rail 13.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 17 (c), a rear timing member 84 is provided inthe intermediate portion of the timing link 73. The rear timing member84 is positioned in the laterally inward side of the timing link 73 andis allowed to be longitudinally movable in the timing guide groove 24.

In the position of closing the rear portion of the roof opening 4 by therear panel 7, there is located a rear locking member 85 in the laterallyinward side of the timing link 73 that regulates the back-and-forthmovement of the rear lifter 72 by locking the rear timing member 84.

The rear locking member 85 is located below the rear edge of the roofopening 4.

As shown in FIG. 13, the rear locking member 85 is provided extendedlyfrom the attachment groove 26 to the timing guide groove 24 on the guiderail 13 and the upper side thereof is fitted to the attachment groove 26and fixed to the guide rail 13.

In the rear locking member 85, there is formed an actuate engagementgroove 86 with a center of the roller 83 in the rear end of the timinglink 73 as a pivotal fulcrum. The locking groove 86 is formed to haveits upper edge opened upward and its lower edge of the front surface 87contiguous to the bottom surface of the timing guide groove 24 and itslower edge of the rear surface 88 contiguous to the upper surface of thetiming guide groove 24.

The rear slider 74 is located below the rear lifter 72 and isback-and-forth movably (longitudinally movably) supported by the panelguide portion 18 of the guide rail 13 so that, by moving back and forth,the rear panel actuator 10 is driven to perform the opening and closingoperation of the rear panel 7 (to move the rear panel 7 up and down andback and forth).

The rear slider 74 is located in the rear portion of the rear lifter 72,and as shown in FIG. 7 (b), it includes a bottom wall 89 and a pair ofside walls 90 rising up from both of the laterally inward and outwardsides of the bottom wall 89.

Under the lower edges of the laterally inward and outward side walls 90of the rear slider 74, there are provided slide shoes 91 longitudinallyslidably fitted to the laterally inward and outward slide guide grooves23 so that the slide shoes 91 are slid within the slide guide grooves 23to thereby allow the rear slider 74 to be movable back and forth.

The rear upper edges of the inward and outward side walls 90 of the rearslider 74 are respectively provided with a pair of attachment pieces 92extending toward the opposing sides, and a pair of engagement shoes 93is attached to the respective attachment pieces 92. As shown in FIG. 17(a), the engagement shoes 93 are located on both right and left sides ofthe backward rear lift guide groove 79, and on the opposing sides of theengagement shoes 93, there are provided engagement portions 94 (rearbackward supporting portions) to be inserted to the rear lift guidegrooves 79 in the rear side.

As shown in FIGS. 7 (b) and 12, in the front portion of the rear slider74, the coupling arm 75 is provided so as to be coupled to the frontslider 30. The rear portion of the coupling arm 75 is pivotally coupledto the inward side wall of the rear slider 74 by a pivot 95 in a mannerof being rotatable about the lateral axis.

In the laterally inward side surface of the front portion of thecoupling arm 75, there is formed a coupling cam groove 96 into which thecoupling pin 71 in the rear edge of the front slider 30 is insertable.

The front end side of the coupling cam groove 96 is opened toward thefront so as to be formed as an insertion opening 97 of the coupling pin71, and the insertion opening 97 is formed to be widely opened towardthe front.

The rear portion of the coupling cam groove 96 is formed to be aninclined groove 98 with a downward slope toward the rear and the rearedge of the inclined groove 98 is closed. An intermediate portionbetween the insertion opening 97 and the inclined groove 98 is formed tobe a transverse groove 99 along the longitudinal direction of the guiderail 13.

A stopper 100 is protruded downward under the lower surface of thecoupling arm 75.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 17 (b), in the bottom wall 22 of the guide rail13, there is formed a vertically penetrating locking hole 101 (armlocking portion) in which the stopper 100 of the coupling arm 75 isdetachably engaged so that the stopper 100 is engaged in the lockinghole 101 to thereby regulate the back-and-forth movement of the rearslider 74.

A U-character shaped spring 102 is provided between the rear slider 74and the coupling arm 75 for biasing the coupling arm 75 downward aboutthe pivot 33 (see FIG. 7 (b)).

In the sunroof apparatus 2 configured described above, from the fullyclosed state of the roof opening 4 being closed by the front panel 6 andthe rear panel 7 shown in FIG. 2 (a), the front panel 6 is tilted up soas to be in a fully tilted-up state in such a manner that the rearportion of the front panel 6 is lifted up (as is inclined in a rearwardinclined state) in the generally same position (in the front position ofthe roof opening 4) in the longitudinal direction shown in FIG. 2 (b).Then, the front panel 6 is moved backward in the tilted-up state so thatthe rear portion of the front panel 6 overlaps above the front portionof the rear panel 7 so as to render the front portion of the roofopening 4 to be generally half-opened as shown in FIG. 3 (a). Meanwhile,the rear panel 7 remains still in a state of closing the rear portion ofthe roof opening 4.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), after the front portion of the rear panel7 is first lowered (lifted down) largely compared to the rear portion,the rear portion of the rear panel 7 is largely lowered compared to thefront portion so that the rear panel 7 is in a lift-down completionstate as shown in FIG. 3 (c).

Then, in the fully tilted-up state of the front panel 6 and in thelift-down completion state of the rear panel 7, the front panel 6 andthe rear panel 7 are moved backward so that the state becomes a fullyopened state in which the rear panel 7 is accommodated below the rearportion of the roof 3 while the rear portion of the front panel 6 isoverlapped above the rear portion of the roof 3.

The following describes in detail the operation of opening and closingthe panels.

In the fully closed state shown in FIG. 2 (a), the pivot 33 pivotallysupporting the front end side of the front lifter 28 is positioned inthe front end side of the shaft insertion hole 42 formed in the timingarm 29, and the pin 43 provided above the rear portion of the timing arm29 is positioned in the upper edge side of the pin insertion groove 37formed in the front lifter 28, and the tilt pin 58 located in the rearupper portion of the forward slider 48 of the front slider 30 ispositioned in the front end side of the tilt guide groove 36 formed inthe front lifter 28, and the engagement portion 66 of the engagementshoe 65 in the front portion of the backward slider 49 of the frontslider 30 is positioned in the front portion of the shutting cam groove41 of the shutting cam 40.

The front portion of the front lifter 28 is supported by the pivot 33and tilt pin 58, and the rear portion thereof is supported by thebackward slider 49 and engagement portion 66.

The engagement portion 66 of the engagement shoe 65 in the front portionof the backward slider 49 is engaged with the shutting cam groove 41 ofthe shutting cam 40 so as to regulate the rear portion of the frontpanel 6 from being lifted up. Further, the rear portion of the frontpanel 6 is supported by the engagement portion 66 in the front portionof the backward slider 49 in a state that the front portion of the roofopening 4 is closed by the front panel 6.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the front timing member 45 is fittedto the locking groove 47 of the front locking member 46 so that the backand forth movement of the front lifter 28 is regulated. Then, since thepin 43 in the rear upper portion of the timing arm 29 is located in therear inclined groove 38 of the pin insertion groove 37 of the frontlifter 28, the front timing arm 29 is regulated from downward swinging.Thus, it is configured that the front timing member 45 is prevented frombeing disengaged downward from the locking groove 47.

Further, the engagement groove 56 of the forward slider 48 is located inthe front portion of the engagement protrusion 44.

In addition, the engagement portion 69 of the engagement shoe 68 of thebackward slider 49 is located in the front end side (front portion) of aslide groove 80 of a rear lifter 72 (i.e., the engagement portion 69 ofthe engagement shoe 68 of the backward slider 49 is located in the frontend side of the rear lifter 72) so as to support the front end sides(front portions) of the rear lifter 72 and the rear panel 7 by the rearportion of the backward slider 49.

Further, the rear slider 74 is located in the rear portion of the rearlifter 72, and an engagement portion 94 of an engagement shoe 93 in therear portion of the rear slider 74 is located in the front side of thebackward rear lift guide groove 79 of the rear lifter 72 so as tosupport the rear portions of the rear lifter 72 and the rear panel 7 bythe rear portion of the rear slider 74.

In the conventional sunroof apparatus, the sliders for supporting thefront and rear panels are independently provided for the front and rearpanels, respectively. Whereas, in the sunroof apparatus 2 of the presentembodiment, it is structured that the front portion of the rear panel 7is supported by the rear portion of the front slider 30 and the rearportion of the rear panel 7 is supported by the rear slider 74.

Thus, in a fully closed state, there can be obtained a possibly widedistance between the engagement portion 69 (rear forward supportingportion) supporting the front portion of the rear panel 7 and theengagement portion 94 (rear backward supporting portion) supporting therear portion of the rear panel 7 so that the stiffness of holding therear panel 7 can be improved.

Moreover, the stopper 100 of the coupling arm 75 pivotally coupling tothe front portion of the rear slider 74 is inserted to the locking hole101 so as to regulate the back-and-forth movement of the rear slider 74.

Also, as shown in FIG. 13 (a), the timing link 73 is in a frontwardinclined shape and the rear timing member 84 is located above thelocking groove 86 of the rear locking member 85 so as to regulate theback-and-forth movement of the rear lifter 72.

When the front slider 30 is moved backward from the fully closed stateof the front panel 6 and rear panel 7, the tilt pin 58 in the rear upperportion of the forward slider 48 moves backward along the tilt guidegroove 36 of the front lifter 28 and the engagement portion 66 in thefront portion of the backward slider 49 moves backward along theshutting cam groove 41 of the shutting cam 40.

Then, the engagement portion 66 in the front portion of the backwardslider 49 is disengaged from the shutting cam groove 41 and the rearportions of the front lifter 28 and the front panel 6 are lifted upabout the pivot 33 as a pivotal center (i.e., tilted up). At this time,the pivot 33 in the front end side of the front lifter 28 moves backwardwithin the shaft insertion hole 42 so that the pin 43 in the rear upperportion of the timing arm 29 moves downward within the rearward inclinedgroove 38 of the pin insertion groove 37.

Subsequently, when the tilt pin 58 in the rear upper portion of theforward slider 48 moves toward the rear end side of the tilt guidegroove 36, the front panel 6 becomes in a fully tilted-up state as shownin FIGS. 2 (b) and 9.

In this fully tilted-up state, the pivot 33 in the front end side of thefront lifter 28 is positioned in the rear end side of the shaftinsertion hole 42. Also, the pin 43 in the rear upper portion of thetiming arm 29 is positioned in the upper edge side of the downwardgroove 39 of the pin insertion groove 37 so that the timing arm 29becomes downward swingable about the pivot 33 as a fulcrum, and theengagement groove 56 of the forward slider 48 is engaged with theengagement protrusion 44 of the timing arm 29 so as to pull down thetiming arm 29 as shown in FIG. 10 (b). Thus, the front timing member 45is disengaged downward from the locking groove 47 of the front lockingmember 46 and the front timing member 45 becomes movable backward alongthe timing guide groove 24.

When the front slider 30 is moved forward from the fully tilted-upstate, the front timing member 45 is abutted to the front lower edgeside of the locking groove 47 of the front locking member 46 so that theforward movement of the front timing member 45 is regulated and theengagement protrusion 44 is pressed to the rear surface of theengagement groove 56 so as to be pushed up, whereby the front timingmember 45 is fitted into the locking groove 47.

Then, the rear portions of the front lifter 28 and front panel 6 arelowered by an operation reverse to that mentioned above so as to returnto the closed position where the front panel 6 closes the front portionof the roof opening 4.

Thus, the front locking member 46 including the locking groove 47, thetiming arm 29, the engagement protrusion 44 and front timing member 45provided in the timing arm 29, the engagement groove 56 of the forwardslider 48 and the like constitute a front timing mechanism thatregulates the back-and-forth movement of the front panel 6 during thetilt operation of the front panel 6 and that releases the back-and-forthmovement of the front panel 6 in the fully tilted-up state of the frontpanel 6.

Meanwhile, when the front slider 30 is further moved backward from thefully tilted-up state, the front panel 6 moves backward together withthe front lifter 28 and the timing arm 29 remaining in the fullytilted-up state.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the front timing member 45 movesbackward within the timing guide groove 24. In addition, within thetiming guide groove 24, there exists no obstacle preventing the backwardmovement of the front timing member 45 until reaching to the rearlocking member 85.

Also, when the front slider 30 moves backward, since the engagementportion 69 in the rear portion of the backward slider 49 of the frontslider 30 moves backward in the slide groove 80 of the rear lifter 72,the part (engagement portion 69) supporting the front portion of therear lifter 72 is shifted backward so that the supporting space for therear lifter 72 becomes narrow. However, the engagement portion 66 of theengagement shoe 65 in the front portion of the backward slider 49 isinserted into the slide groove 80 in the way from the front end side.

Then, since the front portion of the rear lifter 72 is supported by theengagement portion 66 in the front portion of the backward slider 49,the rear lifter 72 (rear panel 7) can be supported in a wide supportingspace all the time. Moreover, after the engagement portion 66 in thefront portion of the backward slider 49 is inserted to the slide groove80 of the rear lifter 72, the rear panel 7 can be supported by threepoints of the engagement portion 66 in the front portion of the backwardslider 49, the engagement portion 69 in the rear portion of the backwardslider 49 and the engagement portion 94 of the rear slider 74 so as tobe able to improve the supporting stiffness.

In the case where the front panel 6 is moved backward remaining in thefully tilted-up state, the rear portion of the front panel 6 overlapsthe front portion of the rear panel 7 and the front slider 30 is coupledto the rear slider 74.

In FIGS. 2 and 3, the rear panel 7 shown by a solid line shows a crosssection of the central portion in the lateral direction and the centralportions in the lateral direction of the front panel 6 and rear panel 7are shown in a middle high state. Therefore, since the side portions inthe lateral direction of the rear panel 7 is positioned in height shownby a phantom line X in FIG. 3, the rear portion of the front lifter 28is kept from contacting the rear panel 7.

FIGS. 3 and 11 (a) show a completion state of coupling the front slider30 and the rear slider 74. The coupling operation and coupling releaseoperation between the front slider 30 and the rear slider 74 aredescribed referring to FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 12 (a), in a state that the stopper 100 of the couplingarm 75 provided in the front side of the rear slider 74 is inserted tothe locking hole 101, the coupling pin 71 in the rear edge of the frontslider 30 is positioned in the same height as the insertion port 97 ofthe coupling cam groove 96 of the coupling arm 75 so that the couplingpin 71 can be inserted to the coupling cam groove 96.

When the front slider 30 is moved backward from the state shown in FIG.12 (a), the coupling pin 71 is inserted to the coupling cam groove 96and the coupling pin 71 pushes the rear surface of the inclined groove98. Then, as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the coupling arm 75 is pushed upwardso that the stopper 100 is disengaged from the locking hole 101 and thecoupling between the coupling pin 71 and the coupling arm 75 iscompleted.

Then, in the case where the stopper 100 is disengaged from the lockinghole 101, the stopper 100 is slid backward on the bottom wall 22 of theguide rail 13 as shown in FIG. 12 (c), whereby the front slider 30 ispushed and the rear slider 74 is moved backward.

Also, when the front slider 30 and the rear slider 74 are moved forward,since the coupling state between the coupling pin 71 and the couplingarm 75 is not released unless the coupling arm 75 is swung downward, thecoupling arm 75 is pulled forward by the coupling pin 71 so that therear slider 74 together with the front slider 30 is moved forward.

And when the stopper 100 of the coupling arm 75 is positioned above thelocking hole 101 while the rear slider 74 together with the front slider30 is moved forward, the coupling arm 75 is moved downward by the selfweight and a biasing force of a spring 102 so that the stopper 100 isfitted to the locking hole 101.

When the stopper 100 is fitted to the locking hole 101, the coupling pin71 reaches the upper edge side of the inclined groove 98 of the couplingcam groove 96 and moves forward across a transverse groove portion 99 soas to be disengaged forward from the coupling cam groove 96 so that thecoupling between the coupling pin 71 and the coupling arm 75 isreleased.

In the case where the coupling between the coupling pin 71 and thecoupling arm 75 is released, although the coupling arm 75 may be fittedto the locking hole 101 only by the self weight, the stopper 100 isrendered to be fitted to the locking hole 101 also by the biasing forceof the spring 102 as in the present embodiment, whereby a malfunction ofthe coupling arm 75 can be prevented so as to achieve an effect that thestopper 100 is surely fitted to the locking hole 101.

In the coupling completion state between the front slider 30 and therear slider 74 shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 11 (a), the engagement portion69 in the rear portion of the backward slider 49 of the front slider 30is positioned in the front end side of the rear lift guide groove 78 inthe front side, and the engagement portion 66 in the front portion ofthe backward slider 49 of the front slider 30 is positioned in the frontend side of the front lift guide groove 77.

When the front slider 30 is moved backward to a coupling position to therear slider 74, the engagement portion 69 in the rear portion ofbackward slider 49 of the front slider 30 does not enter the front liftguide groove 77 but passes through the front lift guide groove 77 andreaches the forward rear lift guide groove 78. However, when theengagement portion 66 in the front portion of the backward slider 49 ofthe front slider 30 reaches the front lift guide groove 77, since theengagement portion 69 in the rear portion of the backward slider 49 isinserted to the front end side of the rear lift guide groove 78 in thefront side so as to slightly pull down the rear lifter 72, theengagement portion 66 in the front portion of the backward slider 49 canbe inserted into the rear lift guide groove 78 in the front side.

When the front slider 30 is moved backward from the coupling completionstate shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 11 (a), the rear slider 74 is pushed bythe front slider 30 and moved backward so that the rear lifter 72 andthe rear panel 7 are lowered (lifted down).

The lowering operation of the rear lifter 72 is described belowreferring to FIGS. 3 and 11.

In the case where the front slider 30 and the rear slider 74 are movedbackward from the coupling completion state so that the respectiveengagement portions 66, 69 and 94 provided in the respective sliders 30and 74 are moved to midways of the respective lift guide grooves 77, 78and 79 as shown in FIGS. 3 (b) and 11 (b), since the inclination angleof the front portion of the forward lift guide groove 77 is larger thanthe respective inclination angles of the front portions of the forwardrear lift guide groove 78 and backward rear lift guide groove 79 andfurther since the inclination angle of the front portion of the forwardrear lift guide groove 78 is larger than the inclination angle of thefront portion of the backward rear lift guide groove 79, the frontportion of the rear lifter 72 (rear panel 7) is first largely lowered(lifted down) compared to the rear portion thereof.

Subsequently, when the front slider 30 and the rear slider 74 arefurther moved backward so that the respective engagement portions 66, 69and 94 provided in the respective sliders 30 and 74 are moved to therear end sides of the respective lift guide grooves 77, 78 and 79 asshown in FIGS. 3( c) and 11(c), since the inclination of the rearportion of the forward lift guide groove 77 is more moderate than theinclinations of the rear portions of the forward rear lift guide groove78 and the backward rear lift guide groove 79 and the inclinations ofthe rear half portions of the rear portions of the forward rear liftguide groove 78 and the backward rear lift guide groove 79 are steeperthan those of the front half portions, the rear portion of the rearlifter 72 (rear panel 7) is largely lowered (lifted down) compared tothe front portion thereof.

Thus, the rear panel 7 is positioned lower in height than the roof 3 sothat it becomes possible to accommodate the rear panel 7 below the rearportion of the roof 3.

Meanwhile, since the rear timing member 84 remains to be fitted in thelocking groove 86 of the rear locking member 85 until the loweringoperation of the rear lifter 72 is completed, the backward movement ofthe rear lifter 72 is regulated.

The movement regulating operation of the rear lifter 72 is describedreferring to FIG. 13. In a state before the rear lifter 72 is operatedto be lowered, the timing link 73 is held in a forward inclined stateand the rear timing member 84 is positioned on the locking groove 86 ofthe rear locking member 85 so that the back-and-forth movement of therear lifter 72 is regulated as shown in FIG. 13 (a).

As shown in FIG. 13 (b), as the rear lifter 72 is lowered, the timinglink 73 swings downward about the rearmost roller 83 as a pivotal centerand also the rear timing member 84 accordingly moves downward within thelocking groove 86 so as to gradually get into the timing guide groove24.

Then, in the lifted-down completion state of the rear lifter 72, therear timing member 84 gets into the timing guide groove 24 so that therear timing member 84 can be moved backward within the timing guidegroove 24. Thus, the regulation of the backward movement of the rearlifter 72 is released so that the front panel 6 and the rear panel 7 canbe moved backward.

Further, in the case where the front slider 30 and the rear slider 74are moved forward from this state, the rear timing member 84 is movedforward and abutted to a lower portion of the front surface 87 of thelocking groove 86 of the rear locking member 85 so that the forwardmovement of the rear timing member 84 is regulated so as to regulate theforward movement of the rear lifter 72.

Thereafter, the rear lifter 72 and the rear panel 7 are raised by areverse operation thereto so that the rear panel 7 returns back to theclosing position of closing the rear portion of the roof opening 4.

By the timing link 73, the rear timing member 84 provided in the timinglink 73, the rear locking member 85 including the locking groove 86 andso forth, there is constructed a rear timing mechanism that regulatesthe back-and-forth movement of the rear panel 7 during the liftingoperation of the rear panel 7 and that releases the regulation of theback-and-forth movement of the rear panel 7 in the lifted-downcompletion state of the rear panel 7.

Meanwhile, in the lifted-down completion state of the rear panel 7 shownin FIGS. 3 (c) and 11 (c), in the case where the front slider 30 and therear slider 74 are further moved backward, the front panel 6 is tiltedup and the rear panel 7 is moved backward in the lifted-down state sothat the rear portion of the front panel 6 overlaps above the rearportion of the roof 3 so as to become the fully opened state in whichthe whole of the rear panel 7 is accommodated below the rear portion ofthe roof 3 and the roof opening 4 is largely opened.

In this fully opened state, the rear locking member 85 is not seen fromthe outside so that the appearance can be improved (it appears thatthere exists only the front locking member 46).

Moreover, in the fully opened state, the front timing member 45 ispositioned in the frontward of the rear locking member 85.

In the present embodiment, it is constructed that the front timingmember 45 is moved back and forth in the forward side of the rearlocking member 85 in the timing guide groove 24 and the rear timingmember 84 is moved back and forth in the backward side of the rearlocking member 85 in the timing guide groove 24. In other words, it isconstructed that the front timing member 45 and the rear timing member84 are moved back and forth in the common timing guide groove 24.Moreover, in order to regulate the back-and-forth movement of the rearslider 74, it is constructed that the stopper 100 of the coupling arm 75is fitted into the locking hole 101 provided in the bottom wall 22 ofthe guide rail 13. Thus, in the sunroof apparatus 2 of the presentembodiment, the size of the guide rail 13 can be reduced in crosssection (simplification of the guide rail 13) and layout performance ofthe guide rail 13 can be improved with reduction in weight.

Since the slider coupling mechanism interlocking between the frontslider 30 and the rear slider 74 includes the coupling arm 75 providedin the rear slider 74, the coupling cam groove 96 formed in the couplingarm 75, the coupling pin 71 provided in the front slider 30, the stopper100 provided in the coupling arm 75 and the locking hole 101 formed inthe bottom wall 22 of the guide rail 13, the slider coupling mechanismcan be constructed as a simple and compact mechanism with reduction ofthe number of parts.

Moreover, in the conventional slider coupling mechanism interlockingbetween the front slider and the rear slider, the structure ofregulating the back-and-forth movement of the rear slider is constructedsuch that the coupling arm is provided in the front portion of the rearslider and the arm locking member of located in the side of the couplingarm and the coupling pin provided at the tip end of the coupling arm islocked in the locking groove formed in the arm locking member, whereinthe arm locking member is provided in the opposing side of one of theright and left side walls extended upward from the bottom wall of theguide rail. Therefore, the arm locking member affects the totalthickness of the guide rail in the vertical direction. In contrast,according to the present embodiment, it is structured that the stopper100 provided in the coupling arm 75 is fitted to the locking hole 101formed in the bottom wall 22 of the guide rail 13 so that theback-and-forth movement of the rear slider 74 is regulated. Therefore,this structure does not affect the total thickness of the guide rail 13and is made compact so that it can be located between the laterallyinward and outward slide guide grooves 23 and in a narrow space belowthe rear lifter 72.

Moreover, in the sunroof apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, theengagement portion 66 in the front portion of the backward slider 49 hasa function (shutting function) of preventing the rear portion of thefront panel 6 from floating up in the state that the front panel 6closes the front portion of the roof opening 4, a function of supportingthe front portion of the rear panel 6 and a function of pulling down thefront portion of the rear panel 6 so that the sharing of the members canbe achieved.

Further, since the shutting structure of the front panel of the presentembodiment is adapted to have a structure that the engagement portion 66in the front portion of the backward slider 49 in the case where thefront slider 30 is engaged in the shutting cam groove 41 in the rear endside of the front lifter 28, the construction of parts can besimplified.

Also, in the present embodiment, although the coupling cam groove 96 isformed in the coupling arm 75 provided in the front portion of the rearslider 74 and the coupling pin 71 is provided in the coupling piece 70in the rear edge of the front slider 30, it may be possible that thecoupling pin 71 is provided in the coupling arm 75 so that the couplingpin 71 is fitted to the coupling piece 70 so as to form the coupling camgroove for swinging the coupling arm 75 upward.

In addition, the swinging direction of the coupling arm 75 may be in thelateral direction. And the locking hole 101 may not be formed in thebottom wall 22 and it is sufficient that the locking hole 101 is formedin the guide rail 13 per se.

In addition, the present invention should not be limited to the sunroofapparatus 2 of the present embodiment and may be also applied to asunroof apparatus adapted to have a construction that, after the rearportion of the rear lifter is lowered in advance, the front portionthereof is lowered, as the conventional sunroof apparatus.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A sunroof apparatus including a front panelretractably opening/closing a front portion of a roof opening formed ina roof of a vehicle and a rear panel retractably opening/closing a rearportion of said roof opening (4), the sunroof apparatus comprising: afront slider actuating the front panel by moving back and forth; a rearslider actuating the rear panel by moving back and forth; and a guiderail guiding the front slider and the rear slider in a manner of beingmovable back and forth, wherein the front slider is moved backward so asto be coupled to the rear slider, whereby the rear slider beinginterlocked with the front slider is rendered to be moved back andforth, wherein a coupling arm is swingably pivotally supported in afront portion of the rear slider, and the coupling arm is provided witha stopper for regulating the back-and-forth movement of the rear sliderby fitting to a locking hole formed in said guide rail, wherein one ofsaid front slider (30) and the coupling arm is provided with a couplingpin and the other thereof is provided with a coupling cam grooveinterlocking between the front slider and the coupling arm by engagingwith the coupling pin, and wherein the front slider is moved backward sothat the coupling pin and the coupling cam groove are engaged with eachother to thereby swing the coupling arm so that the stopper isdisengaged from the locking hole and the rear slider being interlockedwith the front slider is rendered to be moved back and forth.
 2. Thesunroof apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said coupling arm ispivotally supported by the rear slider in a manner of being verticallyswingable, and said locking hole is formed in a bottom wall of the guiderail, and the coupling arm is swung upward upon engagement of thecoupling pin with the coupling cam groove so that the stopper isdisengaged from the locking hole, and when the rear slider is moved backand forth rearward form the locking hole (101) upon disengagement of thestopper from the locking hole (101), the stopper is rendered to slide onthe bottom wall of the guide rail.
 3. The sunroof apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said front slider is provided with said coupling pin,and said coupling arm is provided with said coupling cam groove.
 4. Thesunroof apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a spring is provided forbiasing said stopper in a direction of being fitted to the locking hole.5. The sunroof apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a spring isprovided for biasing said stopper in a direction of being fitted to thelocking hole.